A shared-control approach to haptic interface design for minimally invasive telesurgical training

In this brief, we propose a "shared-control" architecture for design of a haptic interface for hands-on training in minimally invasive surgery. The interface is designed to allow experienced surgeons mentor trainee surgeons through shared control of a surgical robot. During shared control, the interface provides feedback forces to both surgeons, proportional to the difference of their actions and reversely proportional to the control authority shared between them. The control authority shared between the surgeons is chosen based on their relative level of surgical skills and experience and determines the extent to which the motion of the surgical robot depends on their individual commands. We use the H_∞ approach to design the haptic interface and present experimental results to demonstrate its suitability for the intended application of minimally invasive surgical training.